


Toy Cars and Bruised Hearts

by Malum



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Age Play, Hurt/Comfort, Jooheon centric, Little Space, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-17 06:07:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13653003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Malum/pseuds/Malum
Summary: This is a gift for the amazing RaeMin who let me write Jooheon being upset and feeling neglected in little space.





	Toy Cars and Bruised Hearts

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RaeMin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaeMin/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Stress (Connect the Dots)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13224693) by [RaeMin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaeMin/pseuds/RaeMin). 



Jooheon knew he needed to go into little space. Everyone was finally at the point where everyone was back dropping to little space at a minimum of once a week minus himself and Hyungwon. Hyungwon dropped whenever he needed to and Jooheon himself couldn’t fall into little space. Every time he tried all he could think of was Hyunwoo and Changkyun absorbed in taking care of Kihyun and Hyungwon. The little tried to push the feeling of not being needed anymore into the back of his mind but it felt like every time he closed his eyes that’s all he could think about. It had even put a hold on his producing; everything he was trying to write fit a ballad better than Monsta X’s style. The fact that he was on his third week without dropping and no one had noticed only served to show how they didn’t care about him.

If Kihyun went three days without dropping everyone was concerned even Minhyuk but Jooheon literally didn’t matter to them anymore. He didn’t think he was that bad of a little. Sure, he was loud and a bit clingy, but he went into the headset of a three-year-old wasn’t that to be expected?

“I’m going to go back to the Studio; I’ve got a beat stuck in my head I want to get recorded” Jooheon mumbled upon exiting the bathroom from the dorm. Too much was happening at the dorm; Minhyuk, Kihyun and Hyungwon had all managed to drop leaving all three caregivers struggling to take care of them and Jooheon honestly didn’t want to be around it. Everytime he was around the other littles instead of dropping he got the overwhelming urge that he was being a burden and that’d they would all be happier if he left so it left the rapper avoiding the dorm as much as possible.

“Alright, say good-bye Khyunie” Changkyun tried to coax the little into saying good bye to Jooheon; never even looking away from Kihyun. It sent a pang of despair through Jooheon’s heart. He had really been replaced, hadn’t he? Changkyun; the care giver Jooheon had always found himself closed to in and out of little space had truly replaced him. He had a new cuter little and it was impossible to deny Kihyun was adorable in little space. He was the sweetest thing, willing doing as much as possible to please everyone even if it was something he didn’t like or want to do. He was awkward and large unlike Jooheon. He had always been told growing up it was a shame he was a little; he had the perfect frame to provide comfort as a caregiver.

Making the way back to the studio in a trace Jooheon arrived at his studio. It was one luxury of providing so many beats for starship entertainment. He had a studio in one of the upper floors with soundproof walls and a locking door. Weeks ago, he would have never have locked the door but now that was the first thing he did. It didn’t change anything; it’s not like anyone really noticed that he wasn’t that okay no one would come looking for him but still it provided him a brief sense of comfort to know he didn’t have any expectations in his studio. He was in charge in here, he wasn’t a burdensome little or whatever role he fit into with Monsta X; he was just a rapper trying to make music.

Jooheon let the tears drip down his face; he didn’t want this. When he found out he was a little everyone talked about how he would find a care giver who would love him for being himself but here Jooheon was a little who had three care givers who had forgotten about him. That was proof that there was something wrong with him right? To have one caregiver forget about him was maybe a fluke but three? He must be a horrible little. Jooheon didn’t think he was that terrible; honestly, he thought he was pretty sweet? He tried to be at least. Clearly, he was still a burden.

 Looking at the clock Jooheon realied hours had passed. It was currently three in the morning; usually one of the car givers would have called to remind him his curfew was midnight but clearly, he would just have to learn to live without those calls now. Slowly he stood up and unlocked the door to start his journey back to the dorm. He didn’t want to go back. This was almost as bad as competing in No Mercy with the amount of anguish it brought to his mind and heart.

When he got back the lights were off, and everybody was in bed. It was clear that tonight must have been rough for the care givers because usually they made sure the toys were all picked up before going to bed. Jooheon didn’t have that kind of luck. With the dark room and toys shattered hazardously everywhere; Jooheon didn’t stand a chance against the toy cars scattered in the entry way. They were his own toy cars; a gift from Hyunwoo when the elder had realized Jooheon didn’t have any toys for when he was in little space.

Jooheon didn’t know if the tears dripping down his face were from the pain in his knee or his heart. He didn’t fit in here anymore; Kihyun was clearly the better little. Standing up he started to pick up the toys scattered around the dorm ignoring the dull throb in his knee. Sure it hurt but nothing compared to the state of his heart and mind right now. All he could think about was how he wasn’t needed anymore.

“Are you just now getting back? It’s four in the morning. We need to be up at Seven” a voice exploded in the quiet of the dorm and Jooheon tensed. Hoseok was someone that Jooheon would never admit he tried to avoid angering but he certainly didn’t go out of the way to make the elder mad. He was a firm believer that punishments benefitted the littles even if he himself hating giving them.

“I’m sorry Hyung. I had a beat stuck in my head and I wanted to get it down before I forgot” Jooheon softly explained avoiding turning around to look at his hyung. He knew he needed to for schudles and maybe he could do it in the morning but right now he still couldn’t deal with the ache in his heart.

“I don’t care Jooheon. You should have told someone where you were instead of just leaving. What if something had happened to you? No one knew where you were. We had to call the company to make sure you were in your studio” Hoseok scolded stepping towards the soft hearted rapper.

“I told Changkyun before I left I swear” Jooheon quickly stuttered out confused. He had told Changkyun hadn’t he? The care giver had been with Kihyun hadn’t he? They both said bye to Jooheon.

“Don’t lie to me Jooheon. You know I don’ tolerate lying at all” The buff boy ground out; furious. First Jooheon was being a disrespectful little shit and now he was going to try to lie to him? It was too late for this kind of shit from the little.

“I’m not lying I swear” Jooheon muttered looking down. He knew it was a lost cause now. He had pissed of Hoseok Hyung and he was going to tell all the other care givers what a horrible person he was. He was going to get kicked out of Monsta X for this; he knew it.

Hoseok was too angry to notice the tears clouding the littles eyes or the rapid increasing of his breath. All he could think about was how angry and tired he was; taking care of three littles was hard work. He didn’t even realize that he was supposed to be taking care of four now. None of the care givers did much to Jooheon’s dismay.

“Go to bed. I’ll deal with you after our schedules tomorrow” Hoseok huffed rubbing his eyes.

Jooheon bowed and made his way out of the room knowing he wouldn’t be getting any sleep tonight. He never could when a care giver was mad at him, that’s the reason they tended to get punishments out of the way as fast as possible. A bitter laugh escaped Jooheon’s lips as he changed, they never had to worry about punishing any of the littles anymore so why would they remember that. Tears clouded over Jooheon’s eyes as he laid down for bed but sleep never came. The stylists were going to have his head trying to cover his puffy eyes.

Morning came in silence for Jooheon; maybe he fell asleep maybe he was starting to slip? The little didn’t really know what was going on with him. All he knew was that it felt like his body was filled with lead and there was a haze in front of his eyes. Jooheon had no idea what they did that morning, it could have got canceled for all the little knew. He was missing bits of the days, really only remembering the parts when Hyungwon told him to do something. He always went without complaint wanting his last moments in Monsta X to be good at least

Hyungwon knew something was clearly wrong with Jooheon. While the eldest rapper was never a burden to the neutral or the care givers he was also never this complaint to the care givers. At the Radio Show they had to go to he only spoken when prompted and seemed to be in a daze. Hyungwon wanted to pull him away and ask the rapper what was wrong but honestly shouldn’t one of the care givers be dealing with this? Hyungwon himself is barely a neutral with how often he slipped into little space but still he didn’t like the look of this. The rapper really didn’t seem okay.

“Hyunwoo; have you seen Jooheon drop lately? He looks really stressed” Hyungwon tried whispering to the leader just outside of the radio show. Talking about little space in public wasn’t forbidden or anything but Hyungwon knew the eldest rapper was sensitive about who knew he was a little and who didn’t.

“I haven’t seen it, but you know Jooheon prefers to only be around Changkyun when he’s dropping. I’ll ask him about it” Hyunwoo responded distantly. Thinking about it he couldn’t remember the last time Jooheon had dropped. He could remember Kihyun, Minhyuk and Hyungwon all dropping recently but what about Jooheon. Face paling dramatic Hyunwoo took in the look of Jooheon. The rapper did seem stressed; walking around as if he was in a daze. Jooheon didn’t even act like he realized he was limping. It brought a furrow to Hyunwoo’s eyebrows; they had seriously neglected a little to the point where he got hurt and they didn’t even know what happened. Hyunwoo felt tears rise to his eyes at the thought; they had failed a basic responsibility of being a care giver. It wasn’t fair to Jooheon to treat him like this; neglecting him.

“Hoseok-ah, Changkyun-ah, come here” Hyunwoo called keeping a eye on Jooheon from his spot in the waiting room. The little literally hadn’t moved. He was sitting in the spot he had been led to and was just sitting there. They had seriously messed up.

“Is something wrong Hyunwoo-Hyung?” Changkyun asked; eyes serious and Hyunwoo nodded.

“We haven’t been taking care of Jooheon-ah have we? Do any of you remember him dropping or anything to do with little space in the past three weeks” Hyunwoo asked and watched as both of the care givers paled; realizing their mistakes.

“I yelled at him this morning. He came back in the form at four in the morning and I was worried because he might wake up someone. I told him I would punish him after he finished out schedules today” Hoseok confessed softly. He had made such a bad mistake and didn’t even realize it. They had to point it out to him. He had threatened to punish a little who was probably half way into subdrop with how he was currently acting. He didn’t deserve to be a care giver, not with what he had just done.

All three of them quietly made their way over to where Jooheon was sitting on the couch. Hyungwon was with the little and had pulled his head onto his lap to gently massage it but anyone could tell the little was still uncomfortable. He just looked stiff and uncomfortable to the eye.

“Jooheon; baby? How are you” Hyunwoo made to start the conversation watching the littles eyes slowly open and flicker with recognition.

“I’m fine Hyung. I’m sorry for being a burden” Jooheon muttered out and all four around Jooheon felt their hearts clench at the sight. What had they done to this poor little?

“Baby your nothing but a burden. We’re sorry for not taking care of you” Hoseok choked out tears starting to make their way down his face. This wasn’t the time or the place to be crying or dealing with this but they had already let it go on long enough without noticing it.

“You had a better baby to take care of. Kihyun is much cuter, isn’t he?” The little questioned a self-deprecating smile. The look of hate crossing his face was enough to bring even a cold-hearted man to tears. This was a little they all knew was sensitive; and prone to bouts of depression but they had still ignored him for this long getting them in the situation they were in.

The little couldn’t even be described as in little space, seeming much more like he was just in a trance. It seemed like one of the worst cases of sub drop Hyunwoo had ever heard about. He heard of littles getting angry and throwing tantrums or refusing to drop but he had never heard of one getting so trapped in their thoughts they became tranced but that’s clearly what had happened to Monsta X’s eldest rapper.

“No baby. We just failed as care givers” Hoseok mumbled and Jooheon seemed to snap out of his throughts.

“No, great care givers. I’m bad” The little protested and Hyunwoo fought back a sad smile. Of course their sweet, sweet Jooheony wouldn’t let them think bad thoughts no matter how much they mistreated him.

“No baby. We were bad to you. Let us make it up to you” Changkyun broke in and Jooheon shook his head; eyes clearing up slightly.

“I’m bad. You good” He protested and Hoseok bit back a sigh. Jooheon really was too sweet; of course he would think he was bad in this situation despite not doing a thing wrong. So Hoseok changed the focus of the topic.

“What happened to your knee baby?” he muttered; reaching out and pulling the little into his arms. Sure Jooheon had been laying on the couch and Hoseok had standing above the couch but hell he and Hyunwoo were the only ones strong enough to hold the little for extended periods and like hell he was going to put him down after hearing what the little had to say about himself.

“Tripped on a toy car” Jooheon stumbled out trying to force his way deeper into Hoseok’s hold.

“Oh, baby you did that last night didn’t you? Can someone look at it?” Hoseok asked, starting to bounce the little in his hold. Jooheon seemed exhausted; be it physical or mental Hoseok didn’t know but he wasn’t terribly interested in finding out in this moment either.

Hyunwoo got the idea and pulled at the littles pants enough to see the swollen knee. While it was clearly bruised and would be painful for a few days it didn’t look to be permanent or anything an ice pack couldn’t fix.

“your alright baby, you’ll be alright” Hyunwoo cooed pressing a kiss to Jooheon’s head as much as he could. The little had buried himself in Hoseok’s arms as much as he could in fear that soon Hoseok would be taken away from him. They were finally giving him attention and he didn’t want to lose it when he had been starved of it for near a month.

While the three care givers knew anything done for the little right now wouldn’t be enough to fix their mistakes, but they also knew that they would stop at nothing to try and make things better again.

 

**Author's Note:**

> If you like this and haven't read the amazing RaeMin's Stress (Connect the Dots) you should read that.


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